Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
~IVIE~
“ I ’m going to—” Shane begins when we pull up to the house, but I put my hand up, stopping him from speaking further.
“I don’t care what you’re going to do. I’m not speaking to you right now.”
I shove out of the SUV and hurry into the house. I hear him behind me, and I remember that I’m starving, so I whirl back and reach for the bag in his hands.
“Which one is mine?”
He doesn’t reply, so I glance up at him and cock a brow.
“Shane?”
“Now you’re speaking to me?”
I just narrow my eyes menacingly, and he’s smart enough to sigh and hang his head. “They’re the same.”
I fetch one of the sandwiches from the bag and turn to march away once more, headed for the guest room, where I shut and lock the door behind me.
I’m adult enough to restrain myself from slamming the door. Barely.
“He drives me fucking crazy,” I mutter as I unwrap the sandwich and pull my phone out of my purse to video call my best friend, Annika. I’ve been friends with the gorgeous doctor for more years than I can count, and she knows everything there is to know about me.
She’ll talk me down from the ledge.
“Hey, friend,” she says with a bright smile. I prop the phone on the desk so I can see her, and vice versa, and still eat my lunch.
“I’m going to be eating in your ear.”
“I’ll join you. I just made some leftover lasagna for lunch.”
“Lasagna leftovers are the best .”
“Hell yes, they are,” she agrees and takes a bite. “I’m so happy you called. I haven’t heard from you since you went up to Shane’s place.”
“Oh, I’ll likely get into trouble for this call, but I just don’t give a shit. He made me mad, and I want to vent.”
“Tell me everything.” She wipes her mouth with a napkin. “And I do mean everything. ”
“He’s mad at me because I got out of the car when we went to the deli to pick up lunch.”
“Why would he get mad?”
“He’s totally overprotective,” I say, getting riled up. “I mean, I know he’s just trying to protect me, but I was out of the car for less than a minute, petting puppies. Puppies, Annika. And he flew off the handle and said I could have been taken out by a sniper.”
She frowns as she chews on some bread. “Do they have a lot of snipers in the mountains?”
“Right? That was my thought. I highly doubt it. But he was pissed off, and that made me mad. So, here we are. I told him I was taking the blowjob back.”
Annika coughs and has to take a drink of her water. “Wait. What? Blowjob ? Ivie Jordan, you’re not telling me everything. Stop babbling about snipers and get to the good stuff. You know I’m living vicariously through you.”
“You don’t have to,” I remind her. “Rafe?—”
“We’re not talking about Rafe. We’re talking about you and blowjobs. Spill it. Right now.”
“Oh, we’re sleeping together.”
I feel the smile spread slowly over my face.
“ Ivie. ”
“Okay, so you know we’ve been flirting for months and talking a ton. There’s some serious attraction there. Not just on my part, which is still kind of a mystery to me. I mean, have you seen him? What does he see in me?”
“Ask me that again, and you’ll no longer be my best friend.” She narrows her eyes at me. “There are a million reasons to love you, and I’ll send you an essay on the subject later. Tell me more.”
“Well, the chemistry is off the charts. There has been sex. Like, really good sex. I finally know what all the fuss is about. I mean, I’m not a virgin, but I’m the girl boys had sex with on a dare or because they were drunk. And it’s not like it was a fantastic time for me. But Shane takes his time and pretty much worships every inch of my body.”
“You bitch.”
I laugh, and Annika joins me.
“You know I love you and mean that in the nicest way possible.”
“Of course.” I take a bite and think about the frustrating man in question. “The Martinelli brothers are ridiculously sexy. Like, their gene pool must be made of gold.”
“You’re not kidding. Hotter than hot. And for a long time, my family didn’t mesh well with theirs, but with Nadia and Carmine marrying soon, things have mellowed out. Which makes me happy.”
“I like Carmine for Nadia.”
Nadia is my other best friend. The three of us have been tight for a long time, and I’m so happy for her, that she found love with Carmine—even if he was the last person in the world anyone thought she’d end up with.
“But let’s not talk about them. Let’s talk about you,” Annika suggests. “What else is going on? I miss you. I can’t wait for this whole mess to be resolved so you can come home.”
“Me, too.” I sigh and roll my empty sandwich wrapper into a ball, tossing it into a nearby trash can. “It’s really pretty up here, I have to admit. I can see why Shane likes it. But it’s so far away from everything. So isolated.”
“I assume that was the point of it,” she says.
“A fortress in the mountains. Well, if that’s what he was going for, that’s what he got. The house is really nice. And he has a bunch of other buildings on the property. And a farmhand. Is that what it’s called?”
Annika giggles. “Is the farmhand hot?”
“Actually, yeah. Kinda. He’s the strong, silent type. Doesn’t say much, but he’s nice.”
“Maybe I should make a trip to the ranch,” Annika says, waggling her eyebrows.
“You have no idea how much I would love that.”
“Ivie,” Shane calls through the door. “Who are you talking to?”
I roll my eyes and move to the door, then unlock it to open it just a crack. “None of your business.”
“Are you on your cell phone ?” He stares at me like I’ve lost all my marbles.
“Of course, I am. I’m talking to Annika, and?—”
“Not anymore, you’re not. Sorry, Annika, I’m hanging up on you.”
He ends the FaceTime call and rounds on me.
“I know you did not just hang up on my best friend.”
“Why would you call her in the first place?”
“Because she’s my best friend, and you’re being a dick, and I needed to vent about you !” I shout in his face. “That’s what girls do, Shane. We vent when the guy we’re sleeping with is being a douche canoe.”
“You can’t call out on your phone,” he says and props his hands on his hips. “Anyone who’s looking for you, who knows your number, can trace it here.”
“You never told me that.”
“You’re a smart woman,” he replies. “I would think you’d just know it.”
I laugh and pace the room. “I’m not into espionage or finding people, Shane. How would I know that? It’s something from movies.”
“No, it’s very real. This isn’t a funny situation.”
“You’re right.” I sober and face him. “There’s nothing funny about it. Your behavior over the past hour has been disrespectful and just shitty all around.”
“ My behavior?” he demands. “Mine?”
“Yes, yours.”
“Ivie, you were careless.”
“How do you know?” I prop my hands on my hips. “You just made a split-second decision that I was being careless, but you didn’t ask me anything. You assumed that I was stupid, and you punished me for it.”
“Okay. Tell me what you were doing.”
I just stare at him, still fuming.
“Please.”
“The young boy who was walking those puppies fell. He was being pulled, and he wasn’t strong enough to hold onto them. He fell right next to your car. I surveyed the area, knew that I had my weapon on me, and decided to get out and help him right himself. It took ten seconds. Then you walked outside and threw a fit.”
“I did not?—”
“Oh, yes, you did. I’m not a child. I chose to help the boy after I weighed the situation. I didn’t feel like I was in danger. Especially knowing that you’d return any second.”
“I told you to stay in the car.”
“And I’m sure you’re used to people following your orders.”
“To the letter,” he agrees.
“I’m not your subordinate.” I raise my chin. “You’re teaching me to defend myself. I’m not an idiot, and I won’t be treated like one.”
“That’s not?—”
Before he can finish the sentence, a loud beeping starts, and he holds up his hand to shush me, then cocks his ear, listening.
“Fuck,” he mutters and runs out of the room. I’m right on his heels as he opens the door of the 007 room downstairs as I’ve come to think of it, and we hurry down the stairs. He flicks a switch, and all of the monitors on one wall come to life.
“These are cameras showing the whole property,” I mutter.
“Someone breached the perimeter,” he says grimly and presses his phone to his ear. “Yeah, I hear it. I’m looking at the monitors, but I don’t see anything. The alarm was tripped in quadrant forty-two. Okay. Yeah, I’ll go check, too. You take the south and east sides, I’ll take north and west, and we’ll cover quadrants forty through forty-five. They can’t have gotten far. Report back. Out.”
He turns to me, his eyes flat and cold, and his voice is hard. “I need you to stay here. Do not go upstairs. Do not leave this room. I’ll lock it on my way out. It’s bomb-proof, fireproof, and impossible to get into if you don’t know the code.”
“Shane—”
“I don’t know who’s on my property, but they’re about to get a rude awakening. Stay, Ivie. Keep your weapon on you, in case.”
“I won’t leave.”
He nods once and starts to leave, but then he turns back to me and kisses me hard. He releases me as quickly as he grabbed me, takes the stairs two at a time, and then he’s gone. The locks snick into place, and I’m left alone. To worry.
I turn back to the monitors. I see Shane exiting the back door, his weapon drawn as he takes off at a run.
Movement catches my eye on another monitor. It’s Curt, also hurrying from his cabin, weapon drawn.
Jesus, it feels like something out of a mystery novel.
I wish I had sound.
I narrow my eyes as Curt and Shane come in and out of range of the different cameras. Each monitor is labeled with a number.
“Shane said quadrant forty-two,” I mutter, looking at the corresponding screen. I walk to it, looking for switches. “Nothing.”
Curt and Shane continue coming and going, making their way through the thirties until they’re in the quadrants in question.
I tap a couple of keys on a keyboard and pray with all my might that I don’t fuck something up.
Suddenly, I can hear what’s happening.
“Jackpot,” I murmur, pleased that I haven’t lost my touch when it comes to electronics.
“Nothing,” I hear Curt say as he meets Shane in quadrant forty-four.
But then I see something in quadrant thirty-eight. I pick up the phone I grabbed on our way down here and text Shane.
Me : Q38. Man with rifle.
Shane looks at the smartwatch on his wrist, then crouches and gestures to Curt. I can’t hear what he whispers to the other man, but they move fast and sleek from the monitor, through the others, making their way to the intruder.
“Oh, God,” I whisper as I clasp my hands and press them to my chest. “Be careful. Who the hell is that?”
For two men crouched so low to the ground, they move fast. Suddenly, they’re coming at the stranger from opposite sides.
“Stop right there,” Shane commands, pointing his weapon at the man. “Drop the rifle.”
“Hey,” the guy says and raises his hands, slowly lowering his gun to the ground. “I’m not looking for any trouble.”
“What are you looking for?” Shane asks as Curt retrieves the weapon and walks with it out of range of the stranger.
“Elk,” the man says. “I’m just hunting elk.”
“You’re doing it on private property,” Shane informs him. “ My private property.”
“I didn’t realize I left state land.”
“Bullshit,” Curt mutters. “There are signs everywhere, asshole.”
“Not to mention, I don’t know of anyone around here who would shoot an elk with an assault weapon.” Shane steps closer and pushes his pistol into the other man’s face. “Who do you work for?”
“I’m just hunting elk.” But the other man doesn’t blink. Doesn’t even look scared.
I’m terrified, and I’m safe in this room.
“Who sent you?” Curt asks and relieves the man of his wallet. “And is your last name really Sugarbaker?”
“Sugarbaker?” Shane smirks, but the man moves quickly, takes Shane’s pistol, and rounds on Curt when he advances. There’s a fight, a gunshot, and the camera goes dark.
“Oh, God.” I tap keys frantically, but I can’t get the feed or the sound back. They’re just gone.
“No. Don’t do this to me, Shane. Move into the range of another camera.”
But they don’t. In fact, systematically, every monitor goes dark.
Minutes that feel like hours tick by, but there’s nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Until the sound of another gunshot comes through another monitor. I don’t see anything, but I hear the shot.
Jesus, is Shane hurt? Is Curt injured?
How can I be expected to just sit here and wait ?
I try to call Shane’s phone, but there’s no reply.
“He told me to stay ,” I remind myself. “He’ll be pissed if I don’t.”
I chew my lip.
“But he could be hurt. Oh, God, did more men show up? How long am I supposed to wait here? What if they’re both bleeding out there somewhere?”
I can’t just sit here on my hands. I can’t.
I check my weapon and keep it in my hand as I climb the steps to the first floor. I put my hand on the knob and take a long, deep breath.
He’s going to be so mad.
But I need to know that he’s okay.
I bite my lip and turn the knob. When I open the door, I come face-to-face with Shane himself. He’s bleeding. And he’s so pissed.
“What in the fucking hell are you doing?”